Letters for the week of Jan. 2

Amen, Mr. Murphy. We lose more citizens to domestic gun violence every year than we lose in Iraq and Afghanistan combined [“A great American lie,” The Beacon, Guest View, front page, Dec. 19].

The cost of care and the economic loss by those injured is no less – the only difference is that they don't even have the Veterans Affairs to care for them and their families!

My prediction: This latest slaughter will also pass without action. We get all stirred up and then, what the heck, a new season of “American Idol,” and we forget about it – until the next time.

The NRA is a huge fraud. I'm sure half of the members already have convinced themselves that President Obama set up this Newtown slaughter just to get their guns! The fringe of the fringe! Let's move on this; we can watch “American Idol” On Demand next year.

John Troy Baker,

Mukilteo

Ditto to what Mike Murphy said

I agree completely, too!

Stephen Bernheim,

Edmonds

Blame the criminal, not the firearm

After reading former Chief Murphy’s comments in your Guest View last week, I felt compelled to respond with some facts and logic rather than just emotion.

I find it rather hypocritical that a man that made a career out of carrying a firearm to protect himself would deny the rest of us the same right.

Police carry “assault rifles” to assure they can respond in kind to threats from armed assailants. They don’t carry these weapons to protect you or me; they carry them to protect themselves. This leads me to believe Mr. Murphy thinks his life is more important than the rest of ours.

The Founding Fathers realized that power corrupts and created the Second Amendment as a method for the people to be able to respond “in kind” to any usurpation attempted by an overbearing government. It also serves as a strong check against the ambitions of foreign governments.

I find it criminal that this administration was not only silent, but obstructive regarding the guns that were allowed to walk across our southern border and used in the murder of countless innocent Mexican Nationals and one U.S. Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry.

Our own Department of Justice was complicit in this illegal operation and is still obstructing the investigation. Yet they exploit the tragedies in Colorado and Connecticut for their own political gain and to further undermine the rights of law-abiding citizens.

The same elected elite who are surrounded by armed protection 24/7 want the rest of us sheep to be at the mercy of the wolves.

Using Mr. Murphy’s logic, if it can be called that, all of my firearms must be defective, as they have never taken a human life – ever. Why is it so easy for society to blame a tool for something rather than the criminal who actually pulled the trigger?

Society has allowed personal responsibility and freedom to be abdicated in exchange for a lifestyle that condones anything as long as it makes you feel better about yourself.

We have become a nation of cowards. Sure, we’re brave enough to murder an unborn child while still in its mother’s womb, yet we lack the intestinal fortitude to execute a convicted murderer. We have traded discipline for an “anything goes” approach to raising our children.

We protect criminals by giving them more rights than their victims. There are currently more than enough “gun laws” on the books to make it clear that the mass killing of innocent people is illegal. So how can any logical person believe banning guns will stop the violence when banning murder doesn’t?

For all those clamoring for their government to further restrict their rights, I say it’s time for people to start exercising their rights and, more importantly, their responsibilities.

Gun laws only affect law-abiding citizens who are neither disposed nor inclined to commit crimes. They do absolutely nothing to dissuade criminals who already ignore a multitude of laws during the commission of a crime.

If our politicians are truly concerned about stopping crime, I suggest they start by getting rid of habitual offenders that contribute nothing to society but crime and mayhem.

If they are really worried about evil people killing our children, put your efforts toward repairing the mental health system so psychopaths occupy our mental hospitals rather than our schools.

And let’s place the responsibility for crime where it belongs – with the criminal.

Kevin English,

Marysville

Going after ‘assault’ weapons is futile

Gun control in America is futile, and ridiculous. You've bought into the liberal narrative; taking aim at "assault riffles." My heart goes out to those affected by the recent tragedy, but there are some things to be said.

The AR-15 isn’t the most effective gun for confined spaces. Police teams choose pump action shotguns, which can chamber a dozen rounds, for that task. The AR-15 is a media magnet and it’s irrational to single out that weapon. Going after "assault" weapons is futile because, as you stated, all guns are assault weapons.

The facts are simple.

1) Murder per capita today is at its LOWEST point in decades (without gun control laws). Spikes in our murder rates are directly attributable to vice law. Historically when the government bans alcohol or starts up drug wars, we get spikes in murder rates.

Banning guns would just give vice lords another market in illicit gun trade. Pew Research polls proved that Americans today have an irrational fear of violence despite the facts; we are safer today than we've ever been.

2) No country on Earth has a high Gun Per Capita rate AND a high Murder Per Capita rate. Switzerland, Serbia and the United States lead the pack on Guns Per Capita and all have rates under 7/100K.

The most dangerous counties in the world all have strict limits on citizen gun ownership (graphs under my twitter @canaanav). ALL countries which have high homicide rates also have FEW guns.

3) Australia banned guns and their murder rate went up for two years. In the same years, murder rate in the United States precipitated faster without gun control than it did in Australia with gun bans. In Australia, murderers simply strangled or stabbed their victims instead of shooting them. I'd rather be shot.

Solution: We must address our mental health problems. One in five Americans are on psychiatric drugs, and we've jailed millions of people for non-violent crimes. We have to reevaluate how we treat the mentally ill.

We post guards at sport events, concerts and banks. We even realized that commercial pilots should be armed. For schools, at least one teacher or janitor or principle should be trained and armed. Our kids are worth it.